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B.C. aims to limit donations on MLA recall campaigns

The province is moving to ban corporate and union donations for efforts to remove MLAs from their posts.

Under the Recall and Initiative Act, there are currently no restrictions or spending limits for third-party advertising sponsorships and contributions that back recall petitions.

On Tuesday, Attorney General David Eby announced proposed changes including a $1,200 limit on contributions, as well as a $5,000 cap on third-party advertising.

This means individuals cannot give more than $1,200 annually for any combination of recall and political contributions.

Other proposed amendments include banning more than one recall petition from circulating in a district at any given time. Applying for a recall petition within the six months before voting day would also be halted.

“Recall campaigns have the potential of removing people from elected office, and it’s only fair that the rules for elections apply to recall campaigns as well,” Eby said in a news release.

Eby himself is facing a recall campaign in his Vancouver-Point Grey riding. Official recall campaigns can be filed to Elections BC starting Nov. 9, 18 months since the general election. A successful recall requires signatures from more than 40 per cent of local eligible voters.

A recall campaign is also in the works against Langley East MLA Richard Coleman, who served as housing minister under the previous Liberal government.

Proposed restrictions on recall campaigns come more than a year since the NDP government introduced a bill to ban corporate and union donations to political parties.